Fake school operating from shops busted near Rajkot

Rajkot: A bogus English medium school running classes from 1 to 10 without affiliation to any board was busted in Pipaliya village, 19 km from Rajkot city on Friday.
What shocked the education department team that raided the premises, even more, was that some former pupils who studied up to class 9 or 10th were purportedly hired as teachers! The school had been operating for the last seven years in some four shops in the village.
Vimal Gadhvi, in-charge taluka primary education officer, said that the Rajkot taluka panchayat president had given a complaint to his office that two students of Gauri English Medium School were issued certificates but not the school leaving certificates. “On checking our records, we found that no school by this name existed. We inspected the premises on Friday and found that it was operating with any recognition,” Gadhvi said. Gadhvi added that the children currently studying or have studied at this fake school will be admitted to govt or private schools in their area under the Right to Education Act by Monday. “The admission will given considering their age and other factors,” he said.
During the inspection, the team questioned the school owner Katyayani Tiwari who insisted that she was running the classes in a makeshit infrastructure as the process for authorization and recognition was in progress. The school was charging Rs 450-Rs 650 as monthly fees.
Gadhvi has filed an application for complaint with the Kuvdava Police station to take action against Tiwari and her husband Manish. A formal FIR will be lodged once the police and education department gather more evidence.
Highly placed sources in the education department told TOI that they also found a female who was teaching children. “When we questioned her in the presence of police about her qualifications, she claimed to have completed her M.Aand B.Ed. However, she looked underage and we are conducting in-depth probe,” a senior official said, some pupils of classes 8, 9 and 10 were hired as teachers.
On Friday, the education department found 29 students, and a total of 33 students were enrolled in the school.
Admission forms and progress reports with Katyayani’s signature were also found.
“We got information that the Tiwari couple had told the parents that they would be issued certificates and marksheets from another school. We are trying to find such students,” officials said.
Interestingly, a parent named Ruksana had filed a complaint with the collector’s office and other offices alleging that despite paying the school fees, the Tiwaris did not provide a school leaving certificate, which prevented her from enrolling the ward in another school. “My child has been studying her since Class 1. But he was not allowed to take the class 7 exam on the grounds of unpaid fees,” Ruksana told reporters.
Another parent Shail Ghela, said, “My son studied her from class 1 to six. But we have not been given the school leaving certificate for two years. During the Covid-19 pandemic also, the school insisted that parents pay the fees.”